The Reason Why
by InMyMaster'sCloset
Summary: If she only knew what was the reason... When she gets new task, she will not be very pleased... How will Annie be able to pull it out?Or will it leave certain marks again... In the end, you can't escape from your ghosts... *ONE SHOOT*


**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Shingeki no Kyojin, and definitely not owning Annie and Armin... **  
I just fell in love with these two, the moment I started watching anime... and grew to like them even more... :3  
So, I dunno how exactly I came up with this... But there is not so many stories about them, so I decided to write one... I hope you'll like it... *pleading face* ~ONE SHOT~

* * *

_- A reason why_

She just stands there, in the middle of the room, as the man with blond hair approaches. She notices he's not alone, when another, black haired man shows up, entering the room from the shadows of a hallway. She still holds her serious face, but she would rather burst out in laughter, seeing them so official.

She reminds herself why are they here, and suddenly, stuff are not that funny anymore.

She sees a paper in his hands, its whiteness making such a contrast against the dark around her. A false innocence, cause she knows, she knows it very well, what is written on that very paper. And she regrets her previous amusement.

"Here… you know what to do…" he says bitterly, his voice producing cold daggers. It is because he knows her. He sees her as nothing more than a tool, which they use to fulfill their mission. Nothing more, nothing less.

He frowns and points at object that is laid on the table, not quite far away. A deadly, black thing that shines ferociously in the dark.

"Warm welcome?" his eyebrows raised.

"More like… precaution." She finally speaks with usual indifferent tone. She realizes that he is not surprised. He knows that she doesn't trust them. Snatching away a paper from his hand, she turns away towards dim light.

He crosses his arms and waits. He knows what. And he knows that it may not be as fierce as he hopes, but there will definitely be a reaction.

And there it was…

He sees how her shoulders are trembling as she clutches a list that was in her hands. How her spine stiffens and straightens. She turns back to face him, her lips getting more thinner and blue and gray eyes shooting daggers at him.

"No…"

"Excuse me?"

"Not him… Not me… "

"You're not really in a position to choose. Or have you forgotten, what was duty of a warrior?"

On this, she greets her teeth, hissing at him.

"I'm not a warrior… I'm a killer."

"Exactly… a cold, heartless, unmerciful killer."

"Why him?" he knows she is trying so hard to pull herself together.

"Because he became a threat. Are you forgetting what is our aim?"

She remains quiet.

"Don't tell me… you became soft? Is it because of him?"

Her eyes glared at him angrily as she was just about to speak.

"Reiner… Stop." Taller man finally speaks, putting hand on his shoulder.

"What's the problem? Answer is more than obvious… Everyone knows she became just a bit too friendly with that guy."

"Reiner…" a warning.

"Sorry for hurting your feelings Bert. I'm just not sure if anymore she is worth of them." He eyed short blonde in front of him.

"That is not thing of a matter here… We finished what we had to, we should go back." Berthold states, not daring to look at her.

She is glad. She can't stand his look right now. Those eyes that look at her like she was a very valuable prize. Like he is ready to eat from her palm and kiss the ground where she walks.

But she knows she isn't. Actually, it is quite opposite. She was nothing more but a trash.

And yet, he never looked at her like that. He has eyes that are very different from Bert's. They hold innocence of a child, and lust of a man. A sea reflects in them just like sun rays that are drowning in the depths of blue.

When he looks at her, a sincere kindness overwhelms her, and she feels different. She feels pure.

When he touches her, it is like all her sins are gone, for a moment. He wipes them all away, making them disappear.

Why is it wrong then, that she wants to feel like that, even if it is only for a couple of seconds?

"You will do it…" Reiner says, and it doesn't sound like an order, not even a threat. It sounds like a fact.

For things to be worse, she knows it is true. Because, she has no way out. She is cornered. And it is only because she let that man to see through her.

"What if…"

"There is no if, Annie." Berthold's voice breaks through quiet room. "You mess up, you clean it. You should have killed him long time I go, but you let him live. Why?"

"Why? I wonder…" she herself doesn't even know why. At least, she didn't know. Now, she starts to realize it, a bit by bit.

That there is a moment of weakness which can finish you off.

That there are persons who are able to touch your soul and steal your heart without you even knowing it.

Cursing mutely, she sighs and takes the weapon that lied on the table. The only thing that is cold just as she is.

She shakes her head, biting her lip. But it won't go away. A feel of emptiness. A fear. Remorse. Nostalgia.

* * *

He sits there, on the edge of the bed. His elbows are leaned on his thighs, and his face is buried in his palms.

He knows that what he did was not right.

Or it was?

Why was it wrong? It was a small crime…

Why he shouldn't let himself to be happy?

He knows that this was wrong time to have these thoughts. He doesn't want to think! He doesn't want to remember.

But it's already late. Her face is always here, when he closes his eyes, she is staring at him.

Her eyes are shining with tempting glow, like she was daring him to get her. And he can't resist.

He remembers it all. Every curve of her warm body, as he draws his palm over it, slowly, gently, making her shiver under his touch.

He remembers… Her lips, whispering in his ear words that she never said before, and she won't ever again.

Her eyes, that have strange color of blue and gray, like autumn sky. Like rainy day.

Her nose, that she hates, and he loves to lay a kiss on it, just so she knows that for him, it makes her special.

Her hips, when she swings them, while she walks towards him, unbuttoning her shirt.

She is that kind of women which you can have only once in your life. And she choose him, for god knows what reason.

And he was happy. For once in his life, his heart was racing in his chest like crazy. She lit a fire in him, and that fire, that he could feel in her chest too, there where he placed his palm, that burning fire… neither one woman was able to extinguish.

He looked up, placing hand on the bed behind him. He felt warmness, and he again remembered what he did.

This was wrong place, to be cheating on her. He didn't want to cheat on her. But, how can you cheat on someone you can't even call yours?

Still, for him it was cheating. It was like he betrayed her, by betraying his own feelings.

He throws a glance over the sheets on the bed and he sees a dent where a body lied just a moment before. She is now gone too. It didn't hurt him that much though.

Her hair was blonde, but it was not the same color. This one didn't have that special glow of wheat in the midst of a hot summer day.

Her eyes weren't indifferent and strict. They weren't blue and gray.

Even though she was pulling him through,even though her warm touch really was comforting… she was not Annie.

Looking ahead again, he crushes his fingers and just stares at the cold floor.

Moonlight illuminates his shoulders through the window, back of his neck, ends of his light hair.

He feels warm touch on his backs to his shoulder, and warm breath that makes his skin shudder.

"Armin…" her voice quietly fills the room.

"A-Annie…" stutter. Why he stutters? Is it because she maybe knows that, just a couple of seconds before he was thinking about her?

"Why won't you say a thing? I am here finally…" she frowns, her usual way dealing with things.

"Am I supposed to tell you… that I miss you? Because it will sound pathetic.."

"It doesn't matter… All this doesn't exist anyway. It never happened, so you can say whatever you want."

He still remains quiet.

"Why, Armin? Why won't you seek after me?" she stares at him with hurt expression.

"Why instead you just sit here, imagining me?"

"Because it is easier. This way I can think of you, see you the way I want to. Know exactly how you would react, what would you say."

"You're a coward, Armin." She accuses him. He laughs weakly.

"Yes… I am. I can't face you without wanting you, and knowing I can't have you."

"All you have to do is wish…" She whispers into his ear.

"I don't want to say goodbye to you, Annie."

"I'm afraid it is inevitable…" she looks down. As usual… hiding her true face is what she does best. Even now, he can't imagine how she would look like.

"See? You're not that powerful as you think. You're only a human."

"Don't say that…" she threatens.

"Why not? It's a fact… Only human can feel, Annie, and I know how you felt. I wish that I could make it all better for you, but you just didn't want to let me."

"I don't need saving, Armin!" glaring. Frowning. Lips getting thin.

"What if I need, Annie? I never dared to ask you… Could you be the one to save me?"

"I-I… "

"No… of course you can't. Breaking your shell would be a catastrophe." He states bitterly.

He buries his face in palms again, trying to gather his composure. As much as he fights with it, something inside him just pulls him out, towards the doors. Through poorly lit hallway. Over many darks streets. Towards one small, cozy, warm apartment full of her. Her scent, her laugh when she wakes up with his arms around her waist. A just prepared coffee before breakfast…

A decision is formed.

"Find me, Armin… You must say goodbye. It's time to put an end to this bet."

And so he does.

* * *

She is sitting in the chair, wearing only underwear and one light shirt, half buttoned. Her hair, previously wet from the shower, now is almost dry.

One her hand is resting on the armrest, other is holding a cigarette, lit a couple of moments ago, after who knows how many of them.

Her eyes turn towards her palms, and she sees it again. A color of red. In so many layers, so many shades, glued to her skin, slowly leaking down her forearms. It won't go off.

She blinks, squeezing her eyes shut, and it is gone. But she knows it will come back. Even though she washed it, rubbed it harshly until last drop of it went away.

She is left alone out here, in the waste, and she feels lonely. Her only shelter, now is gone.

It's the wrong time now, to be thinking of him. Not now, not ever again.

She looks up, and just like that, he is there, standing in front of her like he usually does, smiling politely, asking her what is wrong.

Like everything on this world is perfectly well.

Like she shouldn't have a reason to feel like shit.

Like she didn't, just now, commit a crime. And it wasn't a small crime.

"I'm sorry, Armin.." she admits, lowers her head, feeling something warm on her cheeks. She realizes she started to cry, and she lets herself to cry in the silence even more.

"Why are you apologizing, Annie?" he asks kindly. She stares at him surprised. His palm reaches her face and wipes her tears, but tears still remain there.

"I don't want you to feel like this because of me Annie. You're still a good person to me, you know that?"

"How… can you say it?" she spills out, her voice becoming coarse.

"Because, I know you… after all, when you put together all rights and wrongs… you are only a human Annie."

"Don't say that… Don't feel sorry for me, Armin, because I don't deserve it."

He leans towards her and plants a kiss on her forehead.

"What have you done?"

"I… you…" she glance him.

"You mean this?" he points at his body, and she sees that his shirt had become stained with red. Her eyes widen, as she gasps.

"I… didn't want to… I never wanted to… not to you…why it had to be you?" she asks in the end, not actually expecting an answer from him.

"Why me indeed, Annie? I wanted to ask you the same question."

"I don't know. There was always something about you. At the beginning, I thought you were clumsy unfortunate, who was not supposed to stay alive in this world in the first place."

"Well, that indeed is honest…" he states with a smile, and she knows that he is not angry. It is because he's that modest and insecure about himself.

"The more I watched you, more I wanted to know you. You were a riddle to me, and before I even noticed it, you got under my skin. And I can't pull you out." He keeps quiet on this, his cheeks turning red.

"And then that night… I never regretted it. Giving myself to you, it was probably the only right decision I made in my life."

She frowns.

"But then, they came… Saying you have to die. And that I…" she glance him, expecting accusation in his eyes. Waiting for a curse from this wraith that haunted her.

But his eyes held same calm, unwavering expression. He still smiled at her with genuine smile.

"Why Annie? You still haven't replied to me…" he comes closer to her and traps her in the chair.

"I don't know…" she stubbornly rejects, even though answer already starts forming in her head.

"You know…" he leans over her and she closes her eyes, feeling his lips brushing hers. His hand grabbed her by her neck, but gently, and she feels how coldness from his palms hit her body.

"Say it…" he persuades her.

"I don't even know what am I thinking…" she throws away cigarette and takes his face in her palms. Their eyes meet, a cold and warm.

"I thought that something was wrong in my train of thoughts… "He whispers painfully, his voice becoming husky, and she recognizes the need in his voice.

"Looks like you're not the only one." She states bluntly. Her body shivers when she finds herself in his arms again.

"I need a reason why, Annie. Why you did all this to me?" his voice begs, but he looks at her with serious face.

And in that moment, she knows she can't escape. She doesn't even want to. Her hand grips a gun that rested on the night table, and she places it to her template.

"I loved you…"

* * *

End is made up like this... purposely, I guess... When I showed this to someone, she imagined completely different version of the end, than I had... so I wonder... What do you think it happened? Opinions are highly appreciated.


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